Horror Movie list: 2020 edition

We’ve seen so much real-world horror this year that it’s hard to top it. But in the spirit of all previous Halloween lists, I’m going to go ahead with this anyway.

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TOP THIRTEEN!

In no particular order, the 13 movies you should be watching this week.

  1. attack the block: a classic, 10/10
  2. snowpiercer: uprising of the underclass. 9/10
  3. people under the stairs: BELONGS IN 2020. 9/10
  4. society: a better documentary than They Live. 9/10
  5. contagion: it drags a little, but have you gotten your hydroxychloroquine forsythia yet? 9/10
  6. us: class uprising, metaphorically. 9/10
  7. green room: racism, cults, punk rock culture, innawoods. 10/10
  8. the crazies: the kind of year it’s been. we didn’t realize our neighbors were this fucked up. 10/10
  9. the thing (even the sequel is good) every year, all the time, we’re gonna find out who’s the thing. 10/10
  10. children of men: how we’ve reacted isn’t much better. 10/10
  11. invasion of the body snatchers: you can’t tell if people are assholes or not, until now. now you can tell. 9/10
  12. the dead zone: we need this. we needed this a while ago. 8/10 (points deducted for effects)
  13. dead snow: We all wish we had snowmobiles and axes these days. 10/10

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The rest of the movies aren’t listed in order of best/worst, just as I remember them. Themes listed and my short thoughts, and a 1-10 scale for my personal enjoyment. There’s been a lot of shitty horror made since my previous lists (see here, here and here) (and a list of horror passing various analytical tests, HERE)

click through for the big list.

movies since the last list

  • Don’t be Afraid of the Dark: it’s about a little kid. Monster movie. Haunted house horror. 5/10 creepy little guys
  • Resolution/the Endless: endless is the perfect sequel. Existential horror. Time travels. Cults. 10/10
  • Autopsy of Jane Doe: medical, family issues, witches, existential dread about death, reminiscent of return of the living dead, slow burn, revenge, a new favorite. 10/10
  •  Kingdom: yes it’s a series. It’s the only horror series I’ve been able to sit through. Zombie/plague, politics, battle scenes. Science. 9/10 perfectly done
  •  Spectral: Army guys. Dimensional horror. Fight scenes. Folklore. 6/10 not bad, fighting gets tired after a while.
  •  Await Further Instructions: Racism. Family gatherings. Holidays. Just how people would behave. 9/10
  • The Boy: Dolls. Ghoooooooosts. Creepy family relationships. House horror. no kids! 8/10
  • Demonic: ghost hunters, paranormal, twist ending, police presence. well acted! 7/10
  • Sinister 2: like most sequels, not good. about kids of course. Bad folklore references. 2/10
  • The Stranger (2014): about a kid. mom was a vampire apparently… viral plagues, body horror. small town living. 9/10
  • Bliss: Artists and art culture. Great characters. Party. 8/10
  • He Never Dies: not a bad role for Rollins. immortality, violence, paranoia, revenge of a sort. 7/10
  • Monster Party: serial killers, family dynamics, surprising facts about rehab. 6/10
  • We Go On: some plot holes here… existential horror. afterlife, ghosts, stalking. 7/10
  • House of the Devil: slow burn. predictable ending. rape, demons, cult. filmed beautifully but so what? 4/10
  • Spring: folklore, relationships, body horror. INCREDIBLE. 9/10
  • Terrified: plot holes. ghosts/existential horror, dimensions. effects are great. 8/10
  • Cruising: serial killer, homophobia, cop content, sexual violence. a classic, acted perfectly, directed perfectly. 9/10
  • The Silence: plot holes SO MANY PLOT HOLES. great creatures. monster movie/apocalyptic. 5/10
  • Starfish: indie music vinyl collection part-anime monster movie. I know that SOUNDS good but… every instance of “it was all a dream” removed one point. confusing plot, nice monster. SO SLOW. 3/10
  • We are Still Here: vintage feeling. haunted house/rotten small town. family problems. cold weather. 7/10
  • Malevolent: pretty decent for a “ghost hunters” movie. 6/10
  • Beyond the Black Rainbow: cults, mad science. If you liked “the invitation” you might like this. 5/10
  • Spiral: this one scared me. With the way the world is now I felt real fear watching this. Building dread. homophobia, xenophobia, cults. 8/10
  • Color out of Space: Nicholas Cage falls in love with a meteor and it’s nothing like the Lovecraft story. Just watch Lovecraft Country instead (unless you want to watch a comedy, it IS Cage, after all. and it got 3 extra points for casting Chong) 3/10
  • The Fields: about a kid. but also about how creepy the rural areas of PA can be. great setting, great plot. 9/10
  • Southbound: an anthology, which isn’t as coherent as I wished it was. some sections are worth the watch. 6/10
  • Void: cults, medical and body horror, and interdimensional mad science. 8/10
  • Under the Skin: strange aliens, with strange goals. rape, of course, because the main character’s a “woman”. 6/10
  • Get Out: Holy shit rich white people scare me. 9/10
  • Antiviral: medical and body horror, doppelgangers, and paranoia. 8/10
  • Mayhem: Every workplace should be unionized. infection, medical horror, violence with office supplies. 10/10
  • digging up the marrow
  • Eli: you’ve seen this movie before, but you won’t know it until the end of the movie. I’m not sure I like that. it’s also about a kid. medical horror, demons, ghosts. 4/10
  • in the tall grass: Time travel/elder gods and of course the King fear of Native sacred ground. well made. 8/10
  • it comes at night: paranoia, disease and isolation all wrapped up neatly in a good mystery story. 7/10
  • they look like people: Paranoia, so much paranoia. 9/10
  • Baskin: demons and deals. 6/10
  • Ma: just an incredible revenge story. teenagers, but not about teenagers. Great cast and slow build of dread throughout. 9/10
  • Midsommar: revenge movie with a cult to help it along. slow, and pretty. overrated. 6/10
  • XX: anthology that’s a 50/50 hit. rated slightly higher because the hits are really, really worth it. 6/10
  • Train to Busan: zombies aren’t as tired out as a genre as you’d think. yeah, it’s about a kid. ugh. 7/10
  • The Golem: antisemitism, colonial times, women fixing shit. yes, it’s about a kid. fuck sake 7/10
  • Thirst: Catholic vampire romance horror. What more is there? medical horror too. 7/10
  • Into the Forest: I understand that there’s two women as main characters during a power outage apocalypse so there’s got to be rape, but still. 4/10
  • Tales of Halloween: gives trick r treat a run for its money. ADRIENNE BARBEAU. 7/10
  • Platform: seems more relevant now than last year. Very violent; plot holes or three. Great acting. 6/10
  • The Vampire’s Assistant: I’m not usually a horror-comedy fan, but this movie had it all. spiders too. 8/10
  • Don’t Kill It: fresh premise, good plot. demons, possession, and paranoia. 8/10
  • Cold Skin: everything the Lighthouse SHOULD have been. Colonizer/Native metaphors. monster movie, with a twist. Antarctic isolation horror. 9/10
  • Hereditary: overrated, but not bad. family issues, cults, motherhood. yes it’s about a kid/teenager. 6/10
  • Demon: addresses the leftover horror of genocide, family issues, weddings, and being a stranger in a strange land. 8/10
  • Patchwork: technically a horror comedy which I usually dislike. Still, it was done well- callbacks to reanimator! no rape scenes, which is amazing for a film with 3 women leads. 8/10
  • A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night: unsatisfying ending, but excellent throughout. classic, straightforward vampire story, in a fresh setting. 8/10

 

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older movies I strongly suggest

  • rare exports: Santa? not a good thing. 9/10
  • the stuff: addiction, consumer culture. 7/10
  • return of the living dead parts 1,2 and 3: 10/10, 8/10, 9/10
  • the relic: science gone wrong due to egos. 8/10
  • pioughkeepsie tapes: serial killer culture done as a fake true-crime documentary. 10/10 if you watch a lot of those, 7/10 if you don’t get those references
  • the diabolical: ghosts or time travel or some kind of dimension warps? 9/10
  • the ruins: when the locals tell you to fuck off, fuck off. this is a killer plant movie. 9/10
  • the girl next door: pure American sociopathy. rape, torture, and the “good old days” 9/10
  • splice: mad science and monsters. rape and rape-adjacent scenes, of course, since women are lead characters. 7/10
  • grave encounters: 10/10 of you watch ghost bro shows. 6/10 if you don’t
  • dog soldiers: possibly the perfect werewolf movie. 10/10
  • dead birds: possibly the perfect Civil War movie. 10/10
  • body bags: anthology. hits and misses. 6/10
  • dead alive: the perfect zombie romance movie. Nothing has ever come close. 10/10
  • vamp: it has Grace Jones. 9/10
  • altered: the best alien movie ever made. 10/10
  • final destination: the grim reaper is rube goldberg. 7/10
  • Pan’s labrynth: the horrors of fascism. but about a kid. 9/10
  • freaks: the original, the classic unity revenge story. 10/10
  • candyman: city horror, a rarity. real bees. 10/10
  • freaked: horror comedy. 6/10
  • the mist: the best ending. 10/10
  • the taking of Deborah Logan: medical horror plus some supernatural stuff. 9/10
  • it follows: disease is on everyone’s mind right now. pretentious, but excellent concept and plot. 8/10
  • Ganja and Hess: classic vampires. 10/10
  • the girl with all the gifts: how to make a zombie movie worth watching after all these decades. no humor at all. perfect. except it’s about a kid. 9/10
  • the horde: what it might actually be like if there were zombies. no information, no help. 9/10
  • mama: finally, a stepmom/adopted mom that’s GOOD. but it’s about kids. 6/10
  • the fly: sexy body horror and mad science. 8/10
  • flatliners: mad science, death, ghosts. 7/10
  • slither: I take it back. THIS is the best alien movie ever made. 11/10
  • dark skies: a decent alien movie, but it’s about a kid. 7/10
  • critters: we’ve come for the crites. 6/10
  • trick r treat: still an 8/10
  • fright night: the original. 9/10
  • troll hunter: government agencies have to handle monsters somehow. 10/10
  • the host: a better monster movie than so, so many. 9/10
  • pighunt: we’re all in it together 10/10
  • Willard: rats, cats, and a weirdo’s revenge 9/10
  • cold fish: serial killer culture 8/10
  • night watch/day watch fantasy horror with every creature you can imagine and the cops that watch them. good vs evil without any gods in the way. 10/10
  • Ravenous (NOT 2017): the original, not the recent one. colonizers gonna pay. amazing soundtrack. 9/10
  • the shrine: final girl gets what she deserves. 8/10
  • American werewolf in London: damn good effects for the time, jumps right into the action. 9/10
  • the pact: ghosts, serial killers, family issues, haunted houses. 9/10
  • the woman: revenge, sociopaths, the horror behind the mask of the upper class. rape, but… 10/10
  • reanimator: Jeffrey Combs is the only mad scientist. Rape-y stuff, but no rape. body horror and zombies, a classic. 10/10
  • blade: the first Blade movie changed the vampire genre. 9/10
  • the descent: claustrophobic, women in battle, monster movie. paranoia and perception. 10/10
  • the strain (series): this and kingdom are the only series I’ll recommend in horror right now. 9/10 until the last season. that’s a 6/10
  • pighunt: we’re all in it together. 10/10
  • the burrowers: colonizers and monsters, and who can tell the difference. 10/10

Additional list may come during the year, I’ll try to keep adding more.